THIRTEEN years ago it produced pedigree cows, now it's a pedigree golf course.

The Richards family decided to swap dairy for fairway in 1995, opening The Gower Golf Club initially as a nine-hole track and then increasing it to 18 a couple of years later.

Take your sticks to Three Crosses today and you'll be glad they packed in the farming.

The club boasts of a course that's mature beyond its years, and it is easy to see why after a trip round this stretch of the Gower Peninsula.

Some 6,000 yards long and with plenty of undulations, Gower provides a stern enough test to have hosted events for the Golfing Union of Wales and Celtic Professional Tour, as well as the West Wales Open.

But it also offers the less gifted golfer a thoroughly enjoyable round, as proved on our visit.

The place is in superb nick just now, with the tees tidy, fairways neat and greens true.

The course is exposed to the elements, with the Loughor Estuary in sight through much of the front nine.

The views are fine, the breeze can be stiff.

Apparently the wind contributed to the hay fever one of your reviewers tried to blame for his defeat by the other come the 19th hole — Gower's farmhouse turned wedding venue.

Having forgotten his Clarityn, the recent form horse in our weekly duels took a bit of a clattering.

Just like every other course in these parts, Gower is doing its best to cash in on the golf boom which the 2010 Ryder Cup is expected to bring to Wales.

A 'hotel partner' of the competition with four-star accommodation, the club should do all right.

It's got a cracking course and a friendly atmosphere to go with it.

As any golfer who doesn't like being told off in the car park knows, that is not always the case but is always a welcome bonus.

Really, the only downside of our trip to Gower was the hay fever — and that was only a downside for one of us.

As we drove back down the approach road which splits the 18th fairway, there was talk of a Gower rematch, either on a winter's day when the sun is low and the pollen count lower, or after a trip to Boots.

Either way, it would be a pleasure to go back.

HOW MUCH? £25 weekdays, £32 weekends. There are a host of membership offers at Gower, including beginner packages.

CAN YOU GET ON? Yes, visitors are very welcome, although it's sensible to phone ahead.

WHERE IS IT? Take A4118 towards Gower and turn right at the Killay mini roundabout on to B4296. In Dunvant, continue straight on to Three Crosses and then turn right into Gowerton Road. Course is on the left.

HARDEST HOLE: 10th — only stroke index seven on the card, but a fine drive is needed here and then a lengthy second to clear the two brooks which divide the fairway. And the green is partially tucked in behind the trees.

BEST HOLE: 8th — a blind tee shot which drops down on to the fairway below before a second which you must leave short of the sizeable pond which guards the green. Chip on for the chance of a birdie four.

DID YOU KNOW? The course record at Gower, 65, was set by Lee Lewis, a local player who recently turned pro.